Morning Announcements

Every morning I take my daughters to school, I listen to their morning announcements. Though I'm disturbed at times because the annoucements seem to make two subtle points - both contradicting the other.

They start off with the national anthem. Everyone in the building turn to face the nearest flag, placing their right hand over their hearts, and they all sing. Which is great, it's good that everyone in this school will know what our national anthem is (for being Americans, that's a plus). But they do not say the Pledge. Now, the Pledge of Allegiance brings up another thought of mine:


I never noticed it while I was in school and chanted the Pledge everymorning in a drowsy zombie like state of mind. Though when Sissy first started school in our little military community located in a small town within the Germany country side, the Pledge bothered me. It disturbed me to see so many young children seem mindlessly rehearsed speaking words that they do not understand. With this new perspective, it seemed almost cult-like, as if the nation brainwashes our children at a young age by having them pledge their allegiance to the country every morning, mondays through fridays for 9 months out of the year, every year. Being in Germany at the time, I wondered....during the conflicts that occured in Germany not even a century ago, did the German children chant a pledge as Nazis marched through their cobble stone streets?


Anyhow, my daughters new school does not say the pledge, rather they sing the National Anthem. For some reason this relieves me because more effort is put into singing than speaking, and it is not a pledge of any sort. On the other hand, this too disturbs me. Now I am not a good Christian, I don't even know if I would call myself a Christian at all, but I do believe that a belief in God is very important. I figure this Texas school probably does not say the pledge because of the controversy of whether or not to say "under God" within it. Omitting it offends some while including it offends others. So it makes sense that the safe choice is to not say the Pledge at all.

This would be fine if at the end of the annoucements, there is not a "moment of silence" taken every morning. What the "moment of silence" is for, or what it symbolizes, I do not know. But to me, I understand it as a religious act, whatever the religion is. This "moment of silence" demanded at the end of the morning announcements seems to contradict not saying the Pledge to avoid the mentioning or lack of mention of God. Also, the "moment of silence" seems to place religion in school in a very subtle, discrete and vague way. I've never been an Atheist, but I have known some, and I've never known them to take a moment of silence just for the heck of it.